Pull strap handles, used in automotive interiors, have been made with a steel strap that provides the necessary tensile strength and a padded cover that conceals the strap. Such handles have included a foamed resin cushion under a dielectrically seamed cover, giving the handle a soft side engaged by the fingers and a firm side decorated with a trim strip concealing the cover seam.
Automotive pull strap handles have also been fully cushioned with a foamed resin padding material surrounding both faces of the strap inside a cover that is seamed inconspicuously along the length of the handle. Pull strap handles made this way have involved extruding the foamed cushion onto an indefinite length of steel strap, while wrapping and seaming the cover around the foam extrusion. The covered strap is then cut to handle lengths, formed into handle shapes, and stripped clear of foam and cover at end regions where anchorages are applied.
The continuous extrusion method of making fully padded strap handles requires a large equipment investment. A very expensive extrusion machine can then make such handles rapidly and economically to supply a large market for a particular style of handle. Smaller production runs that do not merit such a large investment in extruding equipment have been limited to dielectrically bonded covers for pull strap handles that are cushioned on only one side.
I have found a way of making fully cushioned pull strap handles with dielectrically bonded covers. My method does not require an expensive extrusion machine and is suitable for smaller production runs. It thus affords a fully cushioned strap handle that can be made at a low cost without a large initial investment.